Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has won a parliamentary vote of confidence in his leadership that could have spelled the end of this controversial reign.

Berlusconi has now survived 51 votes of confidence since 2008, but this is likely to have been the hardest because the threat came from within his own party. After an early morning debate on Friday, parliamentarians voted 316 votes in favor and 301 against.

After the vote, Berlusconi said the government had foiled the latest "ambush" by the center-left opposition.

Outside the parliament, meanwhile, angry protesters hurled eggs at the legislative building and shouted "Shame" at the Berlusconi administration. In Milan, around 20 young people tried to break into the offices of investment bank Goldman Sachs, spraying red paint on its entrance and chanting "Give us money."

But his government faces a growing domestic and - by extension - eurozone debt crisis.

Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Italy's creditworthiness along with Spain last week, and a total of three ratings agencies have recently downgraded Italy's public debt amid mounting calls for the country to rein in its overspending.

Disagreement over the current Italian budget may well be shared by Berlusconi's own finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, who missed a ballot on a routine budget review by 30 seconds earlier this week - making him unable to vote. The motion failed to pass by a single vote, triggering Friday's vote of confidence.

Political tussle

Tremonti and Berlusconi have had their disagreements in the past. In July, Berlusconi publicly attacked Tremonti over his handling of a proposed austerity package.

The public attack came after Tremonti was linked to a widening corruption investigation involving a former adviser to the Finance Ministry.

Berlusconi is himself embroiled in personal sex scandals and faces four criminal trials, but is determined to stay on as prime minister until his term ends 2013.

He has ruled out running again for office.

Hanging on isn't the same

Opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani on Thursday said surviving a confidence vote was not the same as governing a country.

But in a 15-minute address, Berlusconi said there was no alternative to his government other than to hold fresh elections. He rejected suggestions that Italy should install a government of non-political technicians.

The 75-year-old billionaire media mogul has held Italy's top job almost non-stop since 1994.

Friday's confidence vote was seen as his biggest threat of the past 20 years, with Italy under pressure to come up with new growth mechanisms. The government in Rome has one of the highest public debts in the eurozone at nearly 120 percent of gross domestic product.

Italian Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has urged the government to bring quick reforms to encourage growth beyond an existing austerity package that aims to balance the budget before the 2013 elections.

Draghi takes over from Jean-Claude Trichet as the head of the European Central Bank next month.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters - known as the "indignati" - are expected to form a mass rally in Rome to target the government, banks and financial institutions.

Author: Zulfikar Abbany, Darren Mara (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler